Skip to main content

Taylor Pryor - an amazing young woman - a world changer. We need to act to improve our health care system, in particular to have more robust and co-ordinated services for children and adults with concussions.


Monday, March 9, in Question Period, I asked whether the Minister of Health will support the family's request for an inquest on the death of Taylor, and whether the Minister is prepared to act to ensure improvements in services for those who have a concussion.  My question and the Minister's response is below. 

Individuals with Brain Injuries - Expansion of Services Needed

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, the family of Taylor Pryor shared her story today. It is a tragic story of a health-care system in disarray. Taylor Pryor was an amazing young woman in the words of her family, a world-changer, who suffered a concussion and saw her life turned upside down. 
      In Manitoba today, among many other concerns, there is a huge lack of support for individuals with an acquired brain injury. Will the minister support the family's call for an inquest, and will the minister also act today to ensure that there are much more robust and co-ordinated services for children and adults with concussions and other acquired brain injuries?

Hon. Cameron Friesen  (Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living): Madam Speaker, I know the Pryor family. I met with them. They are carrying a tremendous burden in the loss of their daughter–a daughter that we knew well. Our daughters sang in the same choir together for some time, attended the same university.   No parent envies the path that they are walking. I sensed in them a tremendous humility and still there is much that we can learn from them.
            We know that there's a broad investigation underway. If there are learnings that our system can take away as a result of their experience, we are ready to learn and improve our system. But the VIRGO report clearly said that our system was in disarray, and we've inherited tremendous challenges.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March.  South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory.   The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions.   This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14.  Manitoba ( red line )  started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then.   South Dakota ( blue line )   has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4.  Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations
18 comments
Read more

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

  On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Dougald Lamont speaks out strongly against the "reprehensible", "legally and morally indefensible" Bill 2

 Early in the morning, just after 3 am, on November 6th, Dougald Lamont spoke at third reading of Bill 2, the Budget Implementation and Statutes Amendment Act.  He spoke strongly against the bill because it attempts to legitimize a historic injustice against children in the care of child and family services.  As  Dougald says this bill is " the betrayal of children, First Nations and the people of this province. " Mr. Dougald  Lamont  (St. Boniface):   These are historic times. This is an  historic budget, for all the wrong reasons.  I was thinking of the Premier's (Mr. Pallister) comments about D-Day today and my relatives who served in combat in the First and Second World War. I had a relative who played for the Blue Bombers and served at D-Day with the Winnipeg Rifles because he was an excellent athlete, he made it quite a long way up the beach.       And had he lived until last year, he might have been one of the veterans the Premier insulted by not showing up at a
1 comment
Read more